Text & Hexadecimal editors

There is no such a thing as a perfect text editor. A text editor is like a religion. On the outside, a
text editor is the most simple piece of software you can think of. But when it comes to getting it
just right...
Notepad (which comes with Windows) is actually quite cool, but it isn't always what you need. It's a little too basic. So if you are looking for more advanced text editors, here are a select few you may like.

I also list a couple of Hex editors here, albeit a translator seldom needs one. It can be darn usefull if you are trying to recover a corrupted file or trying to figure out a format. If you don't know what an Hex editor is, no worries, you are certainly not the only one. To give you a short (imperfect) explanation, there is always 2 "sides" to a file: What you see (text, formating,...), and what the computer sees (0 and 1s). A text editor will show you text, an hex editor will show you the code.

Prices are given "for information only". I do not own or sell these software, so make sure you get the latest data from the relevant companies by checking directly on their websites.

Notepad++

Editor Rating: 9/10 - Very recommended!

User Rating: 7/10 (16 votes)

The pitch is simple: What Notepad should have been. A text editor done right.
I can't live without this one. Fast, even with large files. Tabbed interface.
Remembers your last open files and open them when you open it again. Sensible syntax
highlighting for a quazillion languages, plug-in interface allowing to extend
it with many great features, including a Hex editor, a file explorer... There isn't a day
when I don't use it. A MUST!

A brillant text and Hex editor capable of handling large files, display line numbers, perform regular expression search and replace ("regular expressions" are an advanced way to search for data in a file), run macros, display several files in tabs, perform syntax highlighting (showing code in different colors),...

Another simple text editor with the ability to open multiple files in tabs, record and run macros, do regex searches, show syntax highlighting. Very small footprint (can hold on a single floppy) and yet can handle huge text files. Well worth the 15 sec download.